Coping with Egocentric Jury Decision-Making
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. We quickly learned that Richard was a horrible juror for us in the trucking accident case we were working on.
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
July 11, 2019
Rare Insights from Jurors About Voir Dire
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. This past Friday, I conducted our first ever all-day mock jury selection workshop in Seattle. Ten attorneys spent the day
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
February 5, 2019
The Importance of the Me Principle for Jury Strategy (or Those Darn Millennials!)
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Sadly, research on cultural changes in America over the past few decades show that we have become more of a
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
January 24, 2019
Understanding How Social Media is Changing Your Jurors
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the often-overlooked features of the social media revolution is how it has changed the consumer/product dynamic. In this
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
December 18, 2018
An Effective Strategy For Changing the Narrative in Difficult Cases
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Some of the best case strategies that we have developed with our clients over the years resulted in the other
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
December 13, 2018
Ease over Accuracy: Why “Yeah, but…” Defense Tend to Fail
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The “law of least effort” is an important principle for understanding jury decision-making. In short, if there are several ways
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
December 4, 2018
Priming Jurors to Hate You and Your Client
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The critical takeaway from any meaningful discussion about primacy theory and its role in persuading jurors is often the one
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
November 27, 2018
Preparing Witnesses to Pass the “Eyeball Test”
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the most commonly-cited statistics in communication studies is that verbal communication (i.e. the words that are actually said)
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
November 14, 2018
Faster is Better: Finding the Right Speaking Pace
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. What is the most appropriate pace of speech? A common belief among trial attorneys is that it is important to
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
November 7, 2018
Persuading a New Generation of Millennial Jurors
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Over the past few months, I’ve celebrated my 40thbirthday, my 15thyear in the jury consulting industry, and the 5-year anniversary
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
September 27, 2018
The Jurors Hated It, But It Worked
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. An important lesson I have learned from observing jurors’ decision-making in mock trials is that jurors sometimes dislike strategies that
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
August 6, 2018
How Johnny Depp Can Sell Jurors on Fiduciary Duty in His Lawsuit Against TMG
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Last year, famed actor Johnny Depp filed a lawsuit against his management company for professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud,
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
July 6, 2018
The Value of Serving a “Truth Sandwich” to Your Jurors
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. Lately I’ve been following the debate about how the media should cover Trump’s statements – whether via Tweet, rally, official
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
June 21, 2018
Flags, Focus, and the Importance of Shifting Jurors’ Attention to Favorable Messaging
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. When Colin Kaepernick first took a knee in 2016 during the National Anthem to protest police brutality against African-Americans, the
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
June 12, 2018
Litigating Sexual Harassment Claims in the Era of “Me Too”
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The “me too” movement has become one of the most defining issues in American culture over the last year. We
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
May 31, 2018
Filling the Experience Gap with Creative Associate Training Programs
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. In an article called “The Case of the Vanishing Trial Lawyer,” published in the Boston Globe,a veteran litigator, Edward McCarthy,
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
May 16, 2018
Does the Size of a Corporate Defendant Matter?
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. It probably comes as no surprise that corporate defendants face a disadvantage at trial compared to individual defendants. A long
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
May 1, 2018
Battling Confirmation Bias and First Impressions in Litigation
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Confirmation bias refers to when people accept or reject evidence based upon what they want to believe as opposed to
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
April 17, 2018
Using Jury Instructions More Effectively in Closing Argument
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the studies that I like to cite more than just about any is the old 3M study that
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
April 3, 2018
The Power of Embracing Bad Facts
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. On a recent episode of “All In,” Chris Hayes was discussing one possible approach the Trump team could take in
Thomas O'Toole, Ph.D.
March 26, 2018
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